Instead he used his old Shawn Bradley jersey ( a collector's item in its own pathetic right) as the blank slate for this creation. His work both symbolizes the exciting new era in Philadelphia professional basketball that is afoot and our fanbase's trashy fashion sense very nicely.

Frankly, I'm a little surprised he didn't put his own last name on the back of it. He'll most likely just wait until the actual #42 jersey becomes available to take that step.

Get along....

Elton Brand On Why He Left The Clippers [SI]
Sixers Ready To Contend [ESPN]

Boy, that escalated quickly. Wasn't it just last week when the sports pundits and the soundbite intelligentsia were all speculating that former Los Angeles Clipper, and free agent whale, Elton Brand, would "probably" ignore the lavish offer sheet from the Golden State Warriors because "he loves L.A." so much and he's very "loyal." Right.

And then, out of nowhere, Sixers' general manager Ed Stefanski goes out and takes a dry eraser to the team's salary cap and then (reportedly) five years, $82 -million later, the Sixers are now looking awful pretty in the Celtic Conference.

I am shocked. This isn't the type of free agent scenario that usually happens to this city. Philadelphia's not big on sandbagging. Either we covet somebody aggressively and openly and overpay for their services — or we get the door politely closed in our face. But this? This deal kind of popped up out of nowhere, and wasn't even taken that seriously up until a couple days ago. Josh Smith seemed a likely candidate. Elton Brand? Just another name thrown around to keep pushing the Sixers' feel-good momentum caboose. Smith would've been nice; this is friggin' sweet.

Report: Brand Has Verbal Agreement With 76ers [Sports By Brooks]

Sixers reach verbal agreement with Elton Brand [Philly.com]
Elton Brand agrees to go to the 76ers...[LA Times]

Although no official timetable can be set until after his surgery it appears that Brand could miss the rest of the calendar year. In the meantime the Clippers are going to have to figure out how to win the occasional game without their leading scorer and rebounder. The one tiny bit of good news is that the Clippers recently spent their first round draft pick on a dynamic combo-forward from the ACC named Al Thornton. He should be able to step into the lineup immediately but there's no chance he can come close to Brand's levels of production.

If I were Brand I'd head back to Duke for the surgery. I still remember the incredible recovery he made from a broken foot back in college. That Duke hospital is like Lourdes for the lower extremities.

via SPORTSbyBROOKS

The Clippers beat the Suns 114-107 last night to tie the series at a 2-2 and send it back to Phoenix for Game 5 on Tuesday. Watching last night's game, we felt compelled to remind Chicago Bulls fans that Jerry Krause traded Elton Brand — who certainly looked like the best player on the floor — for Tyson Chandler. (A reminder, just in case any Bulls fans don't hate themselves and their lives enough, that in 1999, Krause drafted Brand AND Ron Artest ... and then traded them for Chandler and Jalen Rose.)

Anyway, we've been enjoying this Clippers run more and more, no small thanks to Clipperblog, which has done such an excellent job of tracking this team that you almost want to forgive them for being such shameless sunny-day fans. (The fan site only launched in March.) And we'd like to second MJD's weekend notion: A world where Elgin Baylor is NBA executive of the year is a strange one, indeed.

Game Five [Clipperblog]
Captains Of Crunch Time [Los Angeles Times]

Thank you very much, for reminding me of the reason why I left Duke. Peolple like you cannot and willnot (sic) ever understand my situation. I'm sure daddy worked very hard to send your rich self to college. While real people struggle. I would also like to extend an invitation for you not to waste your or my time ever agin. Never being considered a part of your posh group of yuppies really hurts me to the heart. Yea Right because I don't care about you or your alumni.

Not quite "I could give a shit about North Carolina right now," but, you know, all told, not too shabby.

Some Duke Fan's Correspondence With Elton Brand [Schtick.org]